1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a hood apparatus for a vehicle which is capable of reducing injury to a pedestrian in the event of a forward collision with the pedestrian, which may occur when a vehicle is being driven.
2. Description of Related Art
While a vehicle is being driven, a collision between the vehicle and a pedestrian situated in front of the vehicle may unintentionally occur. In this case, the pedestrian's head collides with rigid body parts mounted to the front of the vehicle, namely, the wiper pivot, the lower portion of the windshield glass, the sealer matching part of the cowl panel, etc., so that the pedestrian may be seriously injured.
Hence, conventionally, a method of popping up a vehicle hood and deploying an airbag installed in a radiator grill was used to protect a pedestrian from serious injury when a collision between the vehicle and a pedestrian occurs. However, the conventional method is problematic in that the structure is complicated and manufacturing cost is increased.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent JP 2006-290287A, which is entitled “Hood Apparatus for Vehicle”, has proposed an apparatus for popping up a vehicle hood. This is low in manufacturing cost, but has a problem in that a pedestrian is not sufficiently protected.
Therefore, there is a need for a hood apparatus for a vehicle, which can sufficiently protect a pedestrian from serious injury when a collision may occur between the vehicle and the pedestrian, and which has a simple structure, thus reducing manufacturing cost.
The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.